The Hinsdale department's commissioners, who declined interviews for the article, wrote that they wanted to assure district residents that they are continuing to operate with the residents' best interests at heart.

The Hinsdale and Mattydale departments, six blocks apart, block each other from their fire calls. Instead, both request help from departments that are farther away.

The article detailed the feud and how it affected the response to a May 2007 fire in the Hinsdale district that burned the Pendergast family out of its home. The Hinsdale truck ran away, unattended, and crashed into the nearby home of Kathy Wildenauer. At the same time, a crew of Mattydale firefighters sat in their station, less than a mile away, and listened to the call.

Both the Pendergast family and Wildenauer say they have not been personally contacted by the Hinsdale department since the fire. Both received the letter sent to district residents last week.